


Omertà

by Reyn



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate universe - Mafia, Bittersweet Ending, M/M, Police Officer Dick Grayson, Secret Relationship, animated gif
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-10
Updated: 2019-01-10
Packaged: 2019-10-07 19:51:27
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,414
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17372231
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Reyn/pseuds/Reyn
Summary: Dick knows of the code of honor that Damian has broken multiple times in helping him alongside their secret meetings, but still held onto the hope that the two of them could stay together despite potential repercussions.





	Omertà

**Author's Note:**

> **o·mer·tà  
> **  
>  /ōˈmertə/  
>  _noun_  
>  (as practiced by the Mafia) a code of honor that places importance on silence, non-cooperation with authorities, and non-interference in the illegal actions of others.

The sweat had barely cooled from Dick’s skin before Damian was hauling himself out bed and reaching for his clothes.

“I thought you said we were letting bygones be bygones.” Dick had intended for the words to come out teasingly, but they fell accusingly flat.

Damian glanced at him as he stepped into his underwear. “That had been my intention, yes. But it’s hard to let go when there is so much on my mind.”

With a sigh, Dick rolled over to his back. He could definitely relate to that. 

After his last meeting with Damian all those months ago, he couldn’t help but realize his mistake. He shouldn’t have pushed so hard. The man’s code of honor was one of the thing’s that Dick really admired about him, even if it was skewed in the wrong direction. And in the days and weeks that had followed their fight, Dick had come to the realization that he would rather have Damian over a town free of the mafia’s corruption.

It was something that weighed heavily on Dick’s mind, even now.

“If I promise to not needle you into feeding me more mafia information, will you come back to bed?” he offered.

Damian didn’t quite pause in getting dressed, but his movements did slow considerably. It gave Dick hope for all of twelve seconds before a folded piece of paper bounced off his torso and onto the rumpled sheets.

“What’s this?”

Damian finished buckling his pants. “Information you can take back to your precinct. If you follow the instructions to the letter, you will successfully be able to disband the Al Ghul empire.”

Dick shot up before he was even conscious of the movement. 

“Disband the-?!” His eyes darted over the words on the paper. “ _Jesus_ …” he breathed. 

“Tell your chief not to bother sending out cops to try and verify any of the details. This matter is being treated with the utmost secrecy, so you will just have to take my word for it.”

Scooting to the edge of the bed, Dick stood and waved the paper about. “I don’t get it. Last time we spoke, you swore to me you would never betray your family. That even giving me scraps of information was forbidden on grounds of omertà, and now you’re suddenly telling me how to crumble an entire empire?? What gives?”

Damian turned to the dresser’s mirror to button up his shirt. “You were right,” he admitted simply. “The rule of the Al Ghuls isn’t one that has the interest of the people best at heart.” He sighed. “It’s best to just bring us down.”

With a shake of his head, Dick looked back down at the paper. “Yeah, but…man. Long term, I was hoping to just shake things up enough to get Ra’s either in jail or even overthrown. Maybe even get _you_  into power. Not eliminate the mafia. That would leave Gotham in a vacuum for other families to try and muscle their way in.”

“Even if I were to take over, my grandfather has too many wheels already turning for me to even hope to stop them.” Damian turned and looked around for his tie. 

“Okayyyy.” Dick stood and halfheartedly took a few steps to follow Damian as he wandered around the hotel room. “So what is your role in all this, then? What do you plan to do once this all goes down?”

Damian avoided his gaze while slipping the tie around his neck. “It doesn’t mater.”

“What? Of course it does.”

Damian shot Dick a look. “Fine, then it’s nothing for you to concern yourself over.”

Dick drew back, stung. A cold dread settled into his stomach, and instinct had him moving forward to grab Damian by the arm and demand his full attention.

“No. Damian, what is the cost for you to be giving me this?” 

The paper was held between them.

“The cost doesn’t matter,” Damian dismissed, trying to pull away.

Dick lost his grip on his arm, but immediately fisted Damian’s sleeve. “It matters to me. I’m not passing this off to anyone in the department if it means putting your life in danger.”

“Don’t be stupid, Grayson, you’ll be saving countless lives–”

“I’m not risking you just to be a hero–”

“My life is already forfeit!” Damian snapped, scowling at the way Dick’s eyes went wide with shock.

“What…?”

“I have already put into play events that are having a domino effect. Once the last pieces fall, my grandfather will know it is me.” Damian looked down. “There is a chance he is starting to suspect me already.”

Dick shook his head. “Surely he won’t kill his own grandson…”

“He killed his own son over a much smaller betrayal before he became so notorious. My mother used to tell me the story during my more rebellious teenage years.”

The paper was dropped as Dick brought both hands up to cradle Damian’s face. “Come with me,” he pleaded, doing his best to stop the dismissive shake of Damian’s head. “No! Listen to me! We can get you into the Witness Protection Program. Hide you. Hire bodyguards to protect you–”

“None of that will help–”

“–Move you seven states over! God damn it, Damian! Please!”

“Breaking omertà is punishable by death,” Damian admitted quietly. “My grandfather is cruel enough to possibly keep me alive for my current transgressions, but this last act will ensure an end to whatever suffering he will put me through; if not by his hand, then by someone else who is honor-bound to uphold the code.”

“Then why not run? Run so you–”

“I am not a _coward_ , Grayson!”

“It’s not cowardly to want to live!” Dick shouted back. “If not for yourself, then live for me!” 

He ran both hands through his hair as paced away, taking a moment to try and gather this thoughts. God, how had his afternoon started off so perfect only to degrade into this??

“These past few months have been absolute hell for me,” Dick proclaimed, pacing back to Damian. “I tried to push past the boundaries you had firmly set and you left. You left me, and I hated it. I hated it to the point where I was ready to turn a blind eye to all mafia activity in the hope that maybe I would get to see you as they grew more bold. And now you’re here for what I’m now realizing was a goodbye fuck, just to tell me you’re breaking down those boundaries yourself with every intention of dying and expect me to be okay with that??”

For a long moment, the two simply stared at one another.

Damian was the first to break eye contact, bending down to pick up the discarded sheet of information.

“What I expect is for you to be carried on by your strong sense of justice, just like I will be carried on by my sense of honor.” The paper was pressed against Dick’s still bare chest.

“Damian…”

“This is bigger than us, Grayson. My grandfather’s end goal is something that could very well start a war between countries if he isn’t stopped, and I am entrusting you to be the one to deliver that final blow.”

Tears began to swim in Dick’s vision as he brought his hand up to take the paper.

Damian offered him a small smile. “And perhaps you will be fortunate enough to find me and save me in time, as I know you will so foolishly and optimistically hope.” His hand came up to cup Dick’s jaw. “But not at the cost of this mission.”

Dick wanted to curse. Shout. Reject everything he had just been told. Rip the paper that contained Damian’s death sentence into a million pieces and throw it out the window. 

Instead, he pulled Damian’s body against his own and kissed him. Words were completely beyond him now, thanks to the tightness that had spread from his chest to his throat, but his lips were still perfectly capable of telling Damian just how much he loved him.

Even as the kiss ended, the continued to simply hold one another.

“You’re a good man, Officer Grayson.” To Dick, it sounded like a confession with how heavily Damian said it. “Thank you…for risking these moments with me.”

With that, Damian pulled away, retrieved his jacket, and slipped out the door, leaving Dick behind with the weight of the world on his shoulders.

THE END.

**Author's Note:**

> AND THEN after this, Dick either finds Damian passed out somewhere from being tortured and carries his bloodied body out like a romance novel hero or they meet up years down the line when Dick becomes Commissioner Grayson and Damian returns to Gotham with a permanent limp and PTSD.
> 
> Also, here's the kiss:
> 
>  


End file.
